I'm a car geek and always looking to fix up my rides but on a budget. I could never find the info I needed so I decided to Blog then later do YouTube videos.
Being a father of 3 I have to be mindful with the toys I want and the toys my kids want.
Join me for information about my stuff and thoughts about making them nicer. I've introduced my kids when I can as my helpers.
www.youtube.com/RobDaman
Instagram: @_robdaman
I've been eyeing SCS Ray10 wheels for some time and had an opportunity to get a set. I like them. They have an aggressive offset of -12 for a 16x8 wheel but I think they look great. It's the maximum amount of poke I'd want to add. Any more and it's overBRO.
Now I need to do a new video with all my mods...stay tuned...
A friend of mine just picked up a Jeep Wrangler and added a lift. He called me and invited me out to Cleghorn along with a few others to have some off-road fun. You may have seen my Holy Jim post which was my first off-road outing. It's rated "easy" at Holy Jim. Now Cleghorn can go from mild to wild depending on the path you choose. I've seen 2wd trucks taking some paths so if you ever want to go, just go...but be sure you take someone who knows where they're going unless you're okay backtracking.
I learned a few things with my Taco. I should have run 4LO with traction control off when I tried going up the steep hill. I literally had no power and I smelled my clutch smoke. Now I know. lol
So the order of driving was the TRD Pro 4runner because he's been here the most. 2nd was the Sport 4x4 Taco with Kings suspension. 3rd was my buddy's lifted Jeep and me with stock suspension.
My boys were excited to go on this outing and you can see it in the end.
TacomaWorld set up a meet in Signal Hill California which was fortunately close to me. My boys like their food and so do I.
We arrived at a little after 5pm and tacos were already there.
There were all generations but the majority was 2nd gens. I love all the gens and was actually looking for a 1st gen but there weren't any good deals to be had which held true for 2nd gens so I went with my 3rd gen which I really like.
Check out my video and this cool rig that has $100k in mods!!! no kidding!
Jason Payne bought his BBP Tacoma just 6 weeks ago and he was surfing the web for mods.
He found my YouTube Channel and started looking at all the mods I did. Jason was so interested he posted several questions on each of my videos. His first mod was the TRD Pro grill. He then focused on getting some wheels. He's become a BRO PRO / PRO BRO!
He lives out in Nevada but was visiting family here in SoCal as well as doing a few mods. This is when I did my mini photoshoot and decided to do my first Subscriber Showcase.
I've had my YouTube channel for a few years posting up DIY and reviews on my car mods but since getting the Taco I've been posting more frequently and getting lots of positive feedback and actually doubling my subscribers in just under 2 months.
As thanks for getting 500 subscribers on my YouTube channel. I'm doing a free giveaway of a set of MostPlus H11 LEDs or a Wasserstein Anywhere mount for a Arlo Pro that I reviewed a few months ago.
The rules are... to check out my YouTube video, subscribe if you haven't, LIKE and comment.
After 100 likes I will have a website that scans for comments to pick the winner. Thanks all for all the support!
So from my earlier post I mentioned what a huge pain it was to work on the BHLM without a true oven. Not only was that part just awful but working on scraping out the hard sealant. I just gave up instead and bought a set that was done with Lexus RX350 projectors. I gotta say this mod isn't cheap weather you do it or pay for them.
I received the package and went to work on my Taco. I should have seen that since I wasn't feeling that great that I should put it off for another day but I was too excited. I didn't follow my gut.
I had problems just taking the fender flares and bumper off. It still wasn't too bad UNTIL I popped the new headlights on. I cracked them!💔
It's not too bad but I know it's there. Such a noob move.
I can tell you that I won't ever mess with headlights again besides changing the bulbs.
Check out my video on the performance. I have to admit they do look good!
I decided to do some drone video as well as handheld stabilizer videos of my Bimmer after cleaning her up today.
I was told that it looked like a GTA video game style excerpt which is cool to hear. 😆 I'm a noob at videography so I'm constantly trying to improve my skills.
I hadn't driven it for so long I forgot how fun and nimble it is. I plan on doing more videos in the near future.
Busy toggling the Tacoma and the kids so it's a struggle but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Today I swapped out the oem halogen fog lights and installed LEDs. It's 6000k and matches my DRL and lowbeams.
Overall it's a good product except for a screw that protrudes enough to prevent an easy install to the headlights but works fine but a tad snug to the fog light housing.
If you guys don't know what BLHM means...it's a acronym for Black Head Light Mod. The parts inside the headlights are usually a chrome so to be different or sleeker, you open them up to black them out or perhaps paint them body color. Other retrofits can happen like HID projectors, angel eyes, demon eyes, etc...
Well the first thing to do is to open them up. Normally you'll need an oven but yours truly doesn't have one [LONG STORY] so I had to ghetto rig one using my electric roasting oven (works great for cooking moist turkey) and a cardbox box plus aluminum foil. I had tried a heatgun the the darn black housing would melt before the sealant got gooey. That sealant is a biggest PITA mofo in the world. I've done a retrofit with my Evo X headlights and these are just horrible to open up.
ghetto oven
First attempt with my "oven" failed miserably. I couldn't get anything even slightly apart and it got really ugly. I kept on raising the heat more and more. I gave up after 3 hours of sweating and cursing. This was a few nights ago.
Tonight I decided to give it another go. After 2 hours of heat and reheat I was able to crack them open. I decided to give the other light a try. Well I got it apart in 1 hour!!! That took 3 reheats total to get them open. The issue is the you need to get a good amount of heat on it so the inside sealant gives way but not to melt the black housing or 'bucket' as some call it.
At least I'm improving. My fingers are sore though. I still need to take them apart for black out and think of maybe doing other stuff to them.
Stay tuned!
serious it took a lot of work.
So far I've disassembled them and did a hyperlapse video of that.
Next thing was painting. The reflectors were actually tinted with Rustoleum tint spray so I'm hoping it would still reflect vs just regular black paint.
Took the Taco on it's maiden voyage on getting it's feed dirty.
It was an easy ride overall on the trail as I was even behind a Honda Civic and a Fit later so if you avid hikers who don't down a truck or suv wanted to go on a hike to Holy Jim you would be fine...If you watched out for big dips. If you get car sick easily I recommend not to go.
There offshoots that can get hairy which I tried then backed out. I didn't have 4LO engaged properly and it was beeping at me! I should have read the instructions but oh well. lol
Jonah had a blast and got really dirty but hey it is an offroad adventure.
My video footage is a little lengthy as I wanted to show the noobs like myself what to expect when driving there. I had no clue and just kept going till I hit the hiking trail entrance.
